Break Arts’ mission is to inspire young people around the world to co-author the stories of their lives. We achieve this mission by partnering with schools and communities to expand notions of literacy and narrative through text, image and performance projects. We believe in expressing our stories as an essential force in living and sustaining meaningful, interconnected lives. (Mission).

Vision: “The arts allow for the capacity to see things as if they could be otherwise” – Maxine Greene.

Professional artists and educators often find themselves at the borders of human experience, traversing new territories while looking for direction and understanding. We find the courage to meet at the outer limits of human experience and invite learners to spend time there as a way to critique and understand human life. Beyond the standardized knowledge required by learners of the world there is a need to connect youth to their own worlds and unforeseen futures.

We must move deeper into the creative realms of teaching and encompass the ways in which inquiry, interpretation, perception, and connection inform who and how we relate to the world in which we live. There is an educative necessity in sharing and learning individual stories of past and present in order to create a foundation for learning, change, and improved futures. Within the arts lies the ability to develop skills that give voice and vision to individual and shared ideas.

Break Arts is committed to a world in which …

Each person’s story is valued as part of a greater collective of voices.

Schools and communities utilize all aspects of the arts and artistic process to promote and encourage imaginative thinking and learning.

Young people view themselves as active participants and contributors to culture and society.

Artists and educators work together to promote possibility and change in an increasingly complex world.

Expressive communication is a universal right, not a privilege.

Schools and communities provide opportunities to express their belief in children’s capacity to think, feel and contribute.